History Over Nature: Effects of Revision in Gerontion After such knowledge, what forgiveness? Think now History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions, Guides us by vanities. These lines from T.S. Eliot's "Gerontion" (1429, 34-37) appear in the final version of the poem, published in 1920. The speaker of this dramatic monologue is an old man sitting inside a “decayed house.” The reference to knowledge invokes the original sin of Adam and Eve, signifying that the man (or society as a whole) has disobeyed God. Christ is no longer a symbol of forgiveness, but is instead represented by the fierce image of “Christ the tiger” (20, 49). In the absence of spiritual redemption, the old man says, "Think now," immediately turning to “History.” History is described by its "passages" and "corridors," suggesting that it is the path the old man is looking to in his search for meaning. His description of the path of history as "cunning" and "contrived" further complicates the old man's disillusionment with his current predicament. However, in the 1919 manuscript of “Gerontion,” the word "Nature" appears in place of the word "History" in line 35. Though this revision is syntactically minor, thematically it greatly affects the reading and interpretation of the poem. In what ways does this revision change the circumstances of the old man’s dilemma in his search for order and belonging? Also, what can be learned about the development of Eliot’s poetry by examining his reasons for substituting “History” for “Nature?” In the 1919 manuscript, the appearance of “Nature” in line 35 recalls the first two lines of the poem. The old man says, “Here I am, an old man in a dry month...wait... ... middle of paper ... ...script version of "Gerontion," the old man is abandoned by nature, leaving him in his barren state. There is no hope for these characters to find meaning through nature because it is a force that is completely out of their control. However, by substituting "History" for "Nature" in "Gerontion," Eliot gives an element of hope to an otherwise dismal poem. By recognizing the old man's failure to perceive history in the "living" sense, the reader also recognizes that the perception of history lies in the individual. Unlike nature, man has a controlling influence in history. As long as this is understood, anyone, including the old man, can find belonging in the living sense of history in order to establish meaning in their present world. Works Cited The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Volume D. Ed. Nina Baym. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
Old Leisure is quite contrasting to New Leisure. Being a stout country squire of the 18th century, he is laid back, simple minded, well fed, and financially well off. He reads but one newspaper and favors Sunday services that "allow him to sleep." "He never went to Exeter Hall, or heard a popular preacher, or read Tracts for the Times or Sartor Resartus." He is not bothered by his "inability to know the causes of things" and sleeps "the sleep of the irresponsible." Eliot describes Old Leisure more than New Leisure because today's readers are familiar enough with living a life as hurried and fast paced as New Leisure's. Her description of Old Leisure is nostalgic of a slower paced way of life.
T.S. Eliot had very philosophical and religious meanings behind this poem, and that helped me relate personally very well with this work of his. He used allusions to other poems, letting me make connections with works I have read before. He also used inclusive language and had the same opinion as me portrayed in this work. Based on these, T.S. Eliot has convinced me of his messages in this poem, as well as made this by far my favorite of his.
Form often follows function in poetry, and in this case, Eliot uses this notion whe...
On the surface the poem seems to be a meditation on past events and actions, a contemplative reflection about what has gone on before. Research into the poem informs us that the poem is written with a sense of irony
The world is changing and evolving at an astounding rate. Within the last one hundred years, the Western community has seen advances in technology and medicine that has improved the lifestyles and longevity of almost every individual. Within the last two hundred years, we have seen two World Wars, and countless disputes over false borders created by colonialists, slavery, and every horrid form of human suffering imaginable! Human lifestyles and cultures are changing every minute. While our grandparents and ancestors were growing-up, do you think that they ever imagined the world we live in today? What is to come is almost inconceivable to us now. In this world, the only thing we can be sure of is that everything will change. With all of these transformations happening, it is a wonder that a great poet may write words over one hundred years ago, that are still relevant in today’s modern world. It is also remarkable that their written words can tell us more about our present, than they did about our past. Is it just an illusion that our world is evolving, or do these great poets have the power to see into the future? In this brief essay, I will investigate the immortal characteristics of poetry written between 1794 and 1919. And, I will show that these classical poems can actually hold more relevance today, than they did in the year they were written. Along the way, we will pay close attention to the style of the poetry, and the strength of words and symbols used to intensify the poets’ revelations.
looks at the time and how the poet's father has lack of control of the
As an object is transported forward time, being preserved in order to teach its values to the future, it does not arrive unscathed. In Ode on a Grecian Urn , Keats describes the gradual change to the objects as “happy boughs! That cannot shed your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu; and, happy melodist, unwearied, [forever] piping songs [forever] new ;” In this situation, Keats is analyzing the effects that time had on the leaves of the trees, and the season of spring. He additionally states that the passage of time is “[forever] warm and still to be enjoy’d, [forever] panting, and [forever] young ;” In this situation, Keats is describing the passage of time as it connects with the individuals in the poem. While living in the Present Time, people, especially teenagers, enjoying being young and carefree from any thought regarding the future. They would prefer if it could always be like that, but the conditions eventually change, and the people with them. Their environment changes, such as from the simple changing of the seasons. As their time is coming to an end, there are some who want to make sure that their ideals last on, to be passed on to future generations, like Keats is doing with Ode on a Grecian Urn . By preserving these ideals in a form of art, it attaches them with the flow of time, so that more may learn from these ideals and begin to share them, or develop ideals of their own from them. The next example of the passage of time is when Keats recites a “little town by river or sea-shore, or mountain-bolt with peaceful citadel, is emptied of its folk, this pious morn ?” Time, in this situation, serves as a cruel reminder of the mortality of humans. I believe that the deserted town, even in the different landscapes, serves as a representation that no matter where they are, the times begin to change, and sooner or later, the current generation must pass on their world to
... Therefore, instead of losing mental stability because of old memories, one should try to embrace sanity and perpetuate it in life. Moreover, the poem emulates society because people fantasize about looking a certain way and feeling a certain way; however, they are meddling with their natural beauty and sometimes end up looking worse than before. For instance, old men and women inject their faces to resemble those in their youth, but they worsen their mental and physical state by executing such actions. To conclude, one should embrace her appearance because aging is inevitable.
“Spinster” by Sylvia Plath is a poem that consists of a persona, who in other words serves as a “second self” for the author and conveys her innermost feelings. The poem was written in 1956, the same year as Plath’s marriage to Ted Hughes, who was also a poet. The title suggests that the persona is one who is not fond of marriage and the normal rituals of courtship as a spinster is an unmarried woman, typically an older woman who is beyond the usual age of marriage and may never marry. The persona of the poem is a woman who dislikes disorder and chaos and finds relationships to be as unpredictable as the season of spring, in which there is no sense of uniformity. In this poem, Plath not only uses a persona to disclose her feelings, but also juxtaposes the seasons and their order (or lack thereof) and relates them to the order that comes with solitude and the disorder that is attributed with relationships. She accomplishes this through her use of formal diction, which ties into both the meticulous structure and develops the visual imagery.
Upon reaching the final stanza, a noticeable shift takes place in the story. Looking into the dates of completion of the poem, I noticed the differing stanzas were constructed in separate years. The first two preludes were written within 1909 and 1910 at Harvard. The third section was composed in Paris within a year, and the fourth prelude was composed in London in 1911. Although the poem is believed to be a connected prelude, the story appears be told over a period. Mainly because of the different point of views, and conflicting ideas, even though Eliot’s main outlook was a day’s period. The first two sections written had a suspicion of a main character being present. Two years later, the story now has different points of perspective drawn from the story.
“In Tradition and the Individual Talent”, T.S. Eliot affirms that the greatest writers are those who are conscious of the writers who came before, as if they write with a sense of continuity. T.S Eliot addresses literary tradition as well as poetic tradition, and states that it is important to focus on “significant emotion, emotion which has its life in the poem and not in the history of the poet” (18). In this sense, the importance of tradition in poetry relies on the fact that a poet must be aware of the achievements of his predecessors, for, as we shall see in the case of Stevens and Ashbery, “the emotion of art is impersonal. And the poet cannot reach this impersonality without surrendering himself wholly to the work to be done. And he is not likely to know what is to be done unless he lives in what is not merely the present, but the present moment of the past, unless...
Moody, Anthony David. The Cambridge Companion to T.S. Eliot. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 121. Print.
T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land is an elaborate and mysterious montage of lines from other works, fleeting observations, conversations, scenery, and even languages. Though this approach seems to render the poem needlessly oblique, this style allows the poem to achieve multi-layered significance impossible in a more straightforward poetic style. Eliot’s use of fragmentation in The Waste Land operates on three levels: first, to parallel the broken society and relationships the poem portrays; second, to deconstruct the reader’s familiar context, creating an individualized sense of disconnection; and third, to challenge the reader to seek meaning in mere fragments, in this enigmatic poem as well as in a fractious world.
It is this moment of recollection that he wonders about the contrast between the world of shadows and the world of the Ideal. It is in this moment of wonder that man struggles to reach the world of Forms through the use of reason. Anything that does not serve reason is the enemy of man. Given this, it is only logical that poetry should be eradicated from society. Poetry shifts man’s focus away from reason by presenting man with imitations of objects from the concrete world.